Vinorelbine and cisplatin can be administered safely after complete resection of NSCLC

With the exception of neurotoxicity, the impact of chemotherapy on QOL was small and generally reversible

Adjuvant cisplatin and vinorelbine result in significantly improved RFS and OS in stage IB and II NSCLC patients

Clinical/Scientific Implications

This study combined with the CALGB study also presented at this conference provide convincing evidence that the addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to completely resected early stage NSCLC improves relapse-free and overall survival. It is unclear why this study shows a dramatic improvement in survival when other similar studies have failed to do so. This study included both stage IB and II patients and was conducted in conjunction with several other cooperative groups including ECOG, SWOG, and CALGB. The patient population does not appear to be particularly favorable compared to previous studies. It is possible the use of more modern chemotherapy may contribute to this benefit. Regardless, these studies along with recently reported data by the International Adjuvant Lung Cancer Trial (IALT) (which showed a small but significant survival benefit for cisplatin-based chemotherapy in completely resected stage I-III NSCLC) have established adjuvant chemotherapy as the standard of care in this group of patients.